The Times of eSwatini newspaper (formerly Times
of Swaziland) which for years has claimed to have daily sales of 300,000
copies in fact has fewer than 18,000, an independent audit of its
circulation revealed.
The Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) in South Africa
which independently audits newspapers in that country and in the region reported
the sales of the Times on Mondays to Fridays averaged 17,985 copies in
the second quarter of 2020. The sales were 11.8 percent down on a year ago. The
sales were 9.5 percent down since the start of the coronavirus lockdown in
Swaziland.
The ABC did not release figures for the Times’
Saturday or Sunday editions. The ABC receives circulation data from newspapers
and checks to verify its accuracy.
The sales figure contrasts with the claim the Times
has made for years on its own
website about its sales. It says, ‘The
newpaper [sic] has been running since 1968 and is Swaziland’s leader in
the deliver [sic] of printed news. The print edition is printed daily
with a circulation of over 300,000.’
The Times has also made the 300,000 circulation
claim in advertisements.
The Times is one of only two daily newspapers
in the kingdom. The other newspaper is the eSwatini Observer (formerly
Swazi Observer), which is in effect owned by King Mswati III, the absolute
monarch of Swaziland. It does not allow its sales to be independently audited.
The eSwatini Observer does not give details of
its circulation on its website, but does say, ‘The market
share of the readership is approximately 50 percent of the print media market.’
In 2016 in an entry
published by Capro Media Representatives, a South African-based company that
markets newspapers to advertising agencies stated the Observer had ‘print
orders’ that were 8,280 copies for the Monday to Friday editions, 9,200 for the
Saturday and 6,000 for the Sunday edition.
See also
Self-censorship at ‘Times’
newspaper
‘Times’ misleads on
King’s London visit
Paper distorts story to
protect King
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